Railroad



T m RD mm v M T No. 591,597,. PatentedOcL-IZ, 1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFIC THOMAS MAURY GALBREATH, OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

RAILROAD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent. NO. 591,597, dated October 12, 1897.

Application filed May 12, 1897. Serial No. 636,168. (No model.)

. that class of railroads which are designed to be laid in the streets of cities or in roadwaysand form a tramway for wagons and similar vehicles as well as street-cars, and it .isdesigned more particularly as an improvement upon the railroad disclosed in my Letters Patent dated March 13, 1894, and numbered 516,327. I

The general object of my present invention is to provide for use in railroads of the class mentioned a rail made in one piece and adapted to aiford a smooth bearing-surface and guide for wagon and carriage wheels as well as car-wheels and one which is so formed or shaped that when laid in a concrete or other pavement or in a roadway it will be held by the material composing the pavement or roadway against lateral and upward movement.

With the foregoing ends in view the invention will be fully understood from the following description and claims when taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective View of a portion of a railway embodying my improved rails,

and Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail section illus-' trating a rail and a portion of the sleeper to which itis connected and the relation of the rail and sleeper with respect to the surface of the pavement or roadway, the latter being indicated by the dotted line flush with the pavement, the rails to be fastened together by fish-bars or other suitable means.

Referring by letter to the said drawings, A indicates ordinary sleepers, of wood or other suitable material, which are designed to rest in a street or roadway about the proportional distance illustrated in Fig. 2 below the surface of the same, and B indicates my improved rails, which are designed to be connected to the sleepers by spikes or other suitable means, the spikes being preferred. These rails B are respectively formed in one piece and are of the form shown in Fig. 2 in crosssection-that is to say, they comprise the parallel webs or upright portions a, having the outwardly-directed base-flanges b for the engagement of the spikes c, the fiat head cl,

which connects the upper edges of thewebs a and is designed to form a tread for the wheels of wagons and similar vehicles, and the guardflanges e at opposite sides of the head (1, which extend above the latter and also extend laterally'beyond the webs o, as shown. These guard-flanges e serve to retain the wheels of a wagon, carriage, or similar vehicle on the head 01, and they have flat upper sides, as

street pavement or roadway that when the rails are placed upon and connected to the sleepers the upper sides of the guard-flanges e of the rails will rest flush with the surface of the pavement or roadway. In consequence of this it will be seen that the material forming the roadway or pavement may rest between theguard-fianges e and base-flanges b and may also rest in the space formed by the webs a and head 01, and thereby serve to prevent either lateral or upward movement of the rails, and consequently materially strengthen the railway.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the smooth surface afforded by the rails of my improved railway enables draft-animals to draw heavy loads with comparative ease, and it will. also be observed that when the railway is laid in a cobble-stone or other rough pavement or roadway a good foothold will be afforded the draft animals and a smooth surface for the travelof the vehicle, and consequently the draft will be rendered very light.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- I 1. In a railroad, the combination of sleepers or cross-ties laid below the surface of the street pavement or roadway and the tracks arranged upon and connected to the sleepers or cross-ties and formed by rails each of which is formed in one piece and comprises the parallel webs or uprights having outwardly-directed base-flanges, the flat head d, and the guard-flanges e, at opposite sides of the head (1, extending above same and also extending laterally beyond the webs a; the said rails being so arranged that the upper side of the guard-flange e, is flush with the surface of the pavement or roadway, substantially as specified.

2. The railway-rail described formed in one 15 also extending laterally beyond the Webs, sub- 20 stantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature inpresence of two Witnesses.

THOMAS MAU R Y GA LBREAIII.

WVitncs'ses:

T. G. TATE, J12, W. D. GALBREATH. 

